Chapter 9

6 months later

The consistent beeping of his alarm clock had Harry reaching blindly for the offending little machine and hurling it across the room. As much as he would have liked nothing better than to stay in bed for the entire day, he needed to get to Quidditch practice. After the trip to St. Mungo's all those months ago, Harry seemed to slip back into the magical world pretty easily. The first month had been used to get to grips with everything, the despised interviews; re-acquaintance with his wand and of course remembering spells and such. Harry had found that it all came back quite easily and it didn't take much to get him to the level that he had been at previously.

The problem had been his career. Any area of the ministry would have loved to have him, but without his N.E.W.T.s the fact still remained that he was under qualified. So Harry had knuckled down with the hope of fitting in two years of magical education in the space of a year. However, surprise came in the form of an old friend, Oliver Wood, who had excitedly informed him that Puddlemere were looking for new talent and Harry would be perfect. Better yet, he didn't need his N.E.W.T's and could instead do them at his own pace instead of cramming.

So much to Harry's delight, he had been signed on as Seeker and now, 4 months down the line was completely settled into his new environment and long term career. There was a problem though. Harry missed his friends. Sure Ron and Hermione were around, but Harry missed Evan and Sky…and Aaron. The three had kept to there decision and left to The States to attend college, while Harry had remained behind to reclaim his place in the wizarding world.

Frowning a little, the boy in question crawled out of bed and headed for a shower, ten minutes in, there was a knock on the door.

"Har! Draco's here for you!" Sirius yelled through the door.

Harry groaned. "Tell him I'll be down soon!" He continued to stand under the hot spray, valiantly trying to prevent himself from banging his head against the wall.

Things with Draco…well…Harry didn't know quite how to put it. Sure the first few months had been great. It was all about rediscovery and getting to know each other all the more, Harry realized that the more time they spent together, the more it became apparent that Draco was still waiting for things to go back to the way they had been. The blonde didn't seem to understand that Harry was not the same guy he had been before the amnesia, and no amount of time or recuperation was going to change that.

Shaking away those depressing thoughts, he shut of the water and set off t go get ready for the day.

"" "" "" "" "" ""

Sirius watched the blonde as he made himself a cup of coffee. "Draco, what are you doing here?" He asked with a frown. He had noticed Harry's tension went it came to the boy and he didn't think Draco pitching up and 7 in the morning was going to help.

"I came to see my boyfriend." Was the reply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I thought I could go with him to practice."

"Draco…you need to give him some space." Sighed Sirius flatly. "You're pushing."

"Of course I'm pushing!" Hissed the Slytherin, glancing at the stairs to make sure Harry wasn't in ear shot. "I'm worried. He's pulling away. The more time we spend together the more he'll settle I and the less time he'll spend –

"What?" Sirius asked. "That he'll what? Spend less time thinking about –

He didn't get to finish as Harry was heard padding down the stairs.

The raven-haired seeker emerged a minute later in track pants and a hoodie, his kit bag on a shoulder.

"Morning." He muttered, heading for the coffee.

"Hey." Grinned Draco, ignoring the fact that Harry wasn't all that enthusiastic. "So what's the plan for today?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well I thought I could come with you to training and then we could go spend some time together and then head on to the Burrow for dinner."

Sirius watched as Harry tried to cover up his irritation. "You know you aren't allowed in to training sessions. They're closed."

"I'm sure they won't mind… especially if it's for you."

"No" answered Harry flatly. "And anyway…I've finally gotten a floo network for Evan and Sky. We're going to hang out for the day."

Sirius noted that Draco's "happy" visage seemed to falter for a moment before it was snapped back into place. "Oh, well that's good. Where should I meet you?"

Harry heaved a sigh in resignation. "Look Draco. I just want to spend some time with my friends…alone."

"Yeah, but I'm your boyfriend."

"I know that, but you've made it no secret that you don't like Ev and Sky, and they're not too fond of you either. So why would you want to come?"

"I…well, who else is going to be there…Oliver?"

Harry scowled. "Is that what this is about?!" He slammed his mug onto the table. "I've told you, Oliver is just a friend, we work together and I've known him for ages."

"Its obvious he wants more!"

Harry took a great steadying breath and backed away, grabbing his bag off the floor. "For the last time…you really need to stop this. It's getting really tiring. I don't know what's gotten into you but I…" he swallowed and glanced at Sirius. "Look I have to go before I'm late. I'll see you."

Sirius sighed as Harry dissapperated, before turning to Draco. "You need to chill out."

"What?" Draco huffed. "So what if I'm a little insecure that he's seeing his old friends…the friends who happen to live in the same apartment as Aaron Quick! Anyway, I don't see why they're so important. Hermione and Ron are his best friends"

Sirius looked at Draco incredulously for a moment. "No they're not, Draco. Evan and Sky are. Harry might still care a lot for Herm and Ron, but two years have passed. You need to remember that." He spared one more look of warning to the boy, before he turned and left for work. He had a bad feeling that this whole thing was going to end very explosively.

"" "" "" "" "" ""

Harry grinned as he hugged Evan and Sky goodbye. Ron and Harry had decided to skip the Weasly weekly dinner at the Burrow in favor of hanging out with Evan and Sky, showing them around Diagon Alley. It was almost 11pm and Sky and Evan were flooing back home from The Leaky Cauldron.

"So we'll see you both soon, yeah?" Grinned Evan as he stared down the two wizards.

"You bet! You still haven't seen me play."

"Well...now that we have this floo thing going…"

Harry watched, very amused as Evan and Ron got into a friendly last argument for the night.

"Are you alright, Jamie?"

Harry gave Sky a small smile. The truth was he wasn't alright. "Err…yeah." Sky raised a clearly disbelieving eyebrow. "Maybe not."

"Why?"

Harry shook his head. "Forget it." There was a small silence before Harry looked at the brown-eyed girl. "How's Aaron?'

She raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Not great, but…" she watched Harry's expression. "Jamie…your decision isn't set in stone. You're allowed to change your mind…for what ever reason."

"It doesn't matter. I can't expect –

He broke off as Ron and Evan finally wrapped up their little spat. A few more goodbyes later, only Harry and Ron were left. The two decided to stay well away from the Burrow and instead have a few drinks at the Cauldron. After about an hour, Harry could feel the usual feeling of panic and doubt sneak into his alcohol induced brain. He turned to Ron.

"I just want to say thanks Ron.'

"For what?"

Harry sighed. "You're one of the few people who understand that I'm not the same person anymore. Besides you and Sirius…. surprisingly the other person's you mom."

Ron stared at his best friend. It didn't take a genius to recognize that Harry had been extremely tense and uncomfortable lately. Sure he and Ron had two yeas to catch up on, but the red head knew that they had made massive amounts of progress. He also knew that things were very strained with Harry and Draco. "Draco still pushing?'

Harry gave a not so amused snort. "I thought that he'll learn…that I'm still the same boy I was over this summer." Harry shook his head. "But he still goes on about me settling in…things will be just like they were…but its not."

Ron sighed. "Did something happen." Harry turned vibrant eyes on the red head, and Ron was startled to see them almost swimming with unshed tears and confusion. "Harry?"

"I went to see Healer Taylor a few weeks ago…" Harry explained, yet he seemed lost in his own thoughts. "I had this…theory. I couldn't understand…I…didn't know why that feeling from those first months…it seemed to…disappear." Harry licked his lips, nervously. "It was like…like the summer all over again…that confusion when I didn't know what was going on. Emotions that I couldn't place. I thought then…you know after I got my memories back…I thought finally it all made sense…"

Ron frowned as he listened to Harry's rambling. He didn't quite know what Harry was getting at. "Harry…what?'

"And then it came to me! And I went to see Taylor…I asked him if…

Flashback

Harry knocked nervously on the door, shuffling his feet as he waited for it to open.

"Aah Harry! "Grinned the Healer. "I was ever so glad when I heard of your appointment. Nothing serious I hope?" He asked with a frown as he took in Harry's tense face and almost tearful expression.

"Sir…I" Harry opened and closed his mouth for a while. "I need to ask you something." Taylor gave a serious nod. "Well you see…it's going to be almost six months since I got my memory back and… the thing is before it happened…I was very confused. You know all the unusual flashes and…"

"Harry, I would like to think that we are friends…you can tell or ask me anything."

Harry nodded. "I couldn't understand at the time… why I was so constantly drawn to Draco when I was in love with someone else."

The healer nodded. He had been Harry's psychologist for a month after he left St. Mungo's. "I thought we decided that it was your unconscious…" the healer was starting to get a bad feeling. Harry's condition had been one of a kind. They had all been floundering in the dark when it came to the diagnosis and had been extremely delighted when things turned out so well. Could they have been wrong?

"Taylor…I am not feeling that sense of…rightness. In fact…it's the exact opposite." Harry took a shaky breath. "I 'm going to ask you something and I need you to be as honest as you can be…could it be possible…that with the emergence of my old memories…that…that it dredged up old emotions. OLD emotions, not a feeling deep down that just needed triggering?"

The Medi-wizard's eyes widened. "You mean…like a surge…so that it almost blocked out what you were actually feeling… and what you thought you were experiencing at the time was just…past feelings attached to the memories and not…not your true hidden feelings?"

Harry pursed his lips and nodded. Taylor stared a little stunned at him for a moment. They had not taken that into account. Harry had been so happy at the time that…well it just hadn't seemed a possibility. He frowned. "What exactly brought this up?"

"I've just…been having major doubts about Draco." The seeker swallowed. "And I really, really…I need Aaron." He finished brokenly. The two wizards stared at each other.

End flashback

Ron stared opened mouthed at his friend. "Oh fuck."

"I know."

"Well…at least this explains why you've been feeling the way you have. What are you going to do?"

Harry shrugged. "Taylor's running some tests…they should be in any day now. Whether it's positive or not…I can't do this with Draco anymore."

Ron nodded. "I figured."

"He's waiting for something that's not going to happen. He also just won't give me space…to breath."

"I think that's his plan…you know…keep you around him all the time and you'll be jogged into the old days." Ron thought a moment. "That Merlin Hermione's visiting Victor. She's Draco's number one fan."

Harry gave him a nod and glanced at his watch. "Let's get going. You staying over?"

"Yip."

"" "" "" "" "" "" ""

Both boys had expected to arrive in a dark, empty house, so it came as a bit of a surprise when the apparated into a brightly lit home buzzing with voices.

"What?' asked Ron as he looked around.

"Harry, Ron!" Came Mrs. Weasley's voice as she entered the kitchen and caught sight of them.

"Mum? What are you all doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the Burrow?"

Molly Weasley frowned. "Yes, well we were. Then there was a suggestion that we have a games night here." She caught Harry's expression. Molly understood that Harry wasn't the same as that fifteen year old he had been. She was one of the few that understood because of the volatile relationship they had had when they were living together over the summer. The Harry Potter that they all remembered would never had spoken to her the way he had or reacted with the same disregard. It was that simple thing that allowed Molly to understand things better than the others. She had of course apologized to Harry about what had occurred, even though it hardly came close to the things she had said. "I tried Harry dear, but…everyone seemed to think that you would be here instead of out. I couldn't change their mind."

Harry growled. 'Was it Draco?'

She nodded. "And Hermione…she's back."

Before either Ron or he could respond, Draco entered the kitchen and than promptly pulled them into the living room. Harry smiled tightly at everyone, smiling a little brighter as he saw Fred and George. He hugged Hermione and than deliberately took a seat between the Fred and Ron.

"So Harry." Asked Hermione. "we tried getting hold of you two…where were you?'

He glanced quickly at Ron. "Er…we were just hanging out at the Cauldron. Didn't Siri tell you about Evan and Sky?"

"But we asked Tom if you were there?" Frowned Draco

Harry closed his eyes briefly. The one thing he couldn't stand was being checked up on, especially after both he and Ron had owled explaining they weren't going to be attending dinner. Thank Merlin Tom, who had a soft spot for Harry, agreed to keep anyone away. "I don't know than…maybe he forgot we were around?"

"Or maybe you weren't there?" Asked Draco

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked coldly as he stood to his feet, ignoring the silence that descended over the room.

"I'm jus saying Harry. You're not acting like yourself and with a floo connection all the way to America; you could have easily be spending time with Quick!"

They were both now standing face to face, their voices rising. "You don't even know what I'm really like!" Hissed Harry, the tension and the doubt finally causing him to snap. 'And this has nothing to do with Aaron! He wasn't even with us tonight!"

"Like hell it doesn't –

The sound of the door bell and Mrs. Weasley's hurried footsteps to answer it brought a cease to the argument.

Draco swallowed realizing just how angry he had made Harry. "Listen…I'm sorry, Jamie."

But Harry had had enough. The constant surveillance, his self directed anger and frustration and Draco's irritating naivety had finally pushed him. "Don't call me that! You don't even know where it comes from. To you it's just a bloody nickname!"

Mrs. Wesley cleared her throat and all attention snapped to her, noticing she wasn't alone.

Sirius looked on surprised. "Healer Taylor, what are you doing here?"

"Er..." he glanced at Harry. "I just have something for your Godson…I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not." Stated Harry Firmly as he stepped away from Draco. "You have the results?" The healer nodded. "Good…lets go into the study. Ron, you coming?'

As Ron stood up and made to follow, Sirius jumped up. "What results? What's going on?'

"I'll tell you just now" muttered Harry and leaving no room for argument he turned and followed Ron and the Healer into the Study, closing the door with a final snap.

He stared at the healer. "Well?'

Taylor handed him a green folder. "We ran numerous tests with your blood samples from before, during and after. Emotion detectors, stabilizers, and all sorts of things…I believe you were right." Harry heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair as he read through the folder.

"It would seem…that the suddenness in which you regained your memory, the surge of memories and emotions obviously were what gave you that feeling of rightness…you felt right because all those emotions matched all those past memories that suddenly came up." The healer shared a worried look with Ron as Harry continued to stare at the sheets of parchment.

'I should apologize for giving you such a ridiculous idea that what you felt was…" but he stopped as Harry waved aside his apology. "Anyway Harry…the months that followed was you settling in. The memories and past emotions settling to where they belong."

Harry looked up. "…and now…it's settled and what I'm feeling is…real and true and…me." It wasn't a question.

The healer stayed for a few more minutes before dissapperating from the study. Harry exchanged a weary look with Ron before they both made their way to the living room. The room descended into a moment of silence before Draco's voice broke it.

"What was that all about?" Harry sighed and handed the folder to a worried looking Sirius. "Well?" Draco demanded.

"He needed to drop of some results."

"I know that!" Hissed Draco. "But why am I just hearing about this now?!" For the next 10 minutes he listened to Draco rant and rave until Harry couldn't take it any longer.

"Just stop! I can't do this anymore! Even if those results came back negative…it wouldn't matter!"

Draco stopped and stared at him, before snatching the papers out of Hermione's hand and reading through them. Harry watched as he paled and then looked back up. This means nothing." He mumbled. "You're just confused. Give it time and everything will go back to the way it was."

"Fuck! No it's not! It's never going to go back to the way it was."

"Yes it will!"

"Draco, you're in love with someone who doesn't exist anymore! I can't give you what you want and you know it! Why else would you be so fucking paranoid about Oliver, or constantly bringing up Aaron even though we haven't heard a peep from him since he left?!"

"So this is about Aaron, isn't it?!"

Harry gave a frustrated growl. "Partly, yes! But even if I wasn't still in love with him…you and I…we can't go back to when we were 15." That did it. Harry's confession that he still loved Aaron Quick hit Draco like a stampeding hippogriph and he stared in silence at Harry. "I am so sorry that I put you through this, but I can't do this anymore. I care about you Draco, I really do, but…I'm not in love with you and you're not in love me either. You're waiting for that fifteen year old boy that doesn't exist anymore. I didn't just grow up…I changed and you're not to blame. Why are you so determined to make this work when you know I'm right?"

"Because I'm in love you." Draco answered stubbornly.

"Are you sure about that?" Harry didn't get his answer as the fireplace flared to life and Evan tumbled out looking highly distressed. "Evan?"

The dark haired boy looked around wildly until his eyes rested on Harry. "It's Aaron…he's been in an accident. He's not looking so good…you have to come!"

Harry blinked for a moment before nodding. "Ron?"

"Fuck yeah I'm coming." Asserted the red head, completely ignoring the look his mother sent in his direction.

"We're not done, Harry!"

Harry spun around at the sound of Draco's voice. "I think we are."

"You go to him, and I won't be here when you get back!"

Harry took a moment to look over the Slytherin before giving a slight nod of acknowledgement. Things didn't go the way he would have liked, but you can't always get what you want. He turned to Hermione. "Are you coming?"

Hermione gave a slight nod before standing up. "I'll go see Madame Pompfrey first…get some potions."

"" "" "" "" "" "" ""

Harry, Evan and Ron practically flew down the hospital corridors, avoiding Doctors and nurses until they got to Aaron's room. Harry entered to find Sky clutching the injured boy's arm, tear tracks marking her cheeks.

"Jamie! Thank god you're here!" Harry gave her a brief hug before picking up Aaron's chart and skimming through it. "They're going to operate in a couple of hours. We haven't contacted his parents yet."

Harry closed his yes for a moment, desperately trying to organize his thoughts as he gazed at the cut and bruised form lying on the bed. Stepping close to the bed, With Ron keeping guard at the door, Harry cast a few diagnostic spells. He knew quite vast array of healing spells from the war.

"Okay, guys here's what we're going to do." He said as he looked around. "I'm going to apparrate Aaron to your apartment. Evan, Sky, I need you to show Ron anyone who has been involved with Aaron's treatment since he got here. Ron…obliviate them, erase all evidence. The last thing we need is a missing patient alert. When you're done, come back to the apartment."

"Jamie…he's going to be alright?"

Harry smiled at blonde girl. "You bet."

"" "" "" "" "" ""

Harry cast the last spell on Aaron's pulverized head and stepped back. All the boy's cuts and abrasions had been healed, a few broken ribs had been mended and more importantly his skull was repaired. Harry sighed; it looked like he was going to be perfectly fine.

Harry smiled slightly at the sleeping boy as he gently ran his hand through the spiky blonde hair. According to Evan, the boy had cut of his dreadlocks almost two months ago. Harry didn't mind, he still looked adorable. Suddenly something came to him and he turned to sky who was the only other person in the room.

"Sky, you said it was a D.W.I? Aaron's always been extremely responsible, what are you not telling me?"

THE girl dropped her eyes. "He's been…drinking a lot. Skipping classes. In fact, I suspect the only reason he passed the semester was because he's so bloody smart."

Harry frowned. He really didn't like the sound of that. "Oh, well he's going to fine."

"I heard you broke up with Draco."

"Did you here why?"

Sky nodded. "Ron told me."

"Do you think…" he muttered gesturing to the still unconscious boy. "He'll forgive me."

"I'm sure he will." She said, and then giggled. "But only if you give him a lap dance."

Harry snorted. "The last one was embarrassing enough."

Sky's eyes widened in disbelief. "You didn't….oh my god you did!"

Harry rolled his eyes before ushering the girl out the room. "Tell Hermione and Ron they don't have to stay if they don't want to." With that he closed the door and walked over to the bed. Aaron was sure to wake up soon. Taking seat beside the boy, one hand resting on the other side of his hip, the other running gently through his blonde hair, Harry looked down at him.

Aaron's eyelids began to flutter, before a pained groan escaped him. "Fuck, I feel like I've been run over by a car."

Harry snorted. "That's because you practically were."

Aaron's eyes snapped open and violet eyes stared at Harry. "What are you…what happened?"

Harry sighed, not moving from his position. "You were in an accident. You were hurt pretty bad, so I did a little magic and now you're fine. Just be thankful you didn't need any skelegrow."

Aaron nodded distractedly and than stared at the duvet as if it were the most interesting thing in the room. "So I'm going to be fine?"

"Yeah."

"So I guess you're going to be leaving soon."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Not unless you want me too." HE frowned. "Actually not even then."

Violet eyes snapped up to meet green in confusion. "What about….

"No, I'm not going anywhere." Swallowed Harry as he gave Aaron a sleeping draught. "Not this time."

"Why?"

"Because…I love you. Now go to sleep. We'll talk when you feel better."

Aaron watched in confusion as Harry got up and headed for the door. He wasn't quite sure what was going on and his brain really wasn't in any state to try and decipher it, but truth be told…he really wasn't about to question things.

"Don't go."

"I'm not…I'll just be outside."

"I know…but I want you to stay…here…with me." He accompanied the last bit, by lifting up the covers and motioning for Harry. "Please…if I wake up and realize this was all in my head, I at least want to make sure I made the best of it."

Harry smiled, slipped of is shoes and padded over to the bed, before slipping in and wrapping Aaron in his arms. With a flick of his wand, the lights turned off and Harry placed a soft kiss on Aaron's forehead. "It's not in your head."

TBC

A/N: well? anyway I know lots of you would of preferred a Drarry ending, but I just wasn't feeling it. I think it made more sense for Harry to end up with Aaron and what's the point ion reading a story that has everything the way you'd like it to be...also - I love Aaron! Anyway, the epilogue is next :D

Thanks so much to my BETA, VampireGodess, even though half these chapters i jumped the gun and posted the unbeta'ed version. You helped alot with getting me to keep writing and bouncing ideas of you!